From 8-11 PM ET, CBS-TV will broadcast the ceremony, which will boast a star-studded list of presenters from the worlds of TV, film and theatre. As of press time, those scheduled to present awards include Alfre Woodard, Anna Paquin, Bernadette Peters, Cynthia Nixon, Glenn Close, Hank Azaria, Julia Roberts, Kyra Sedgwick, Liev Schreiber, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Ruffalo, Chita Rivera, Ralph Fiennes, James Naughton, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Harvey Fierstein, Tom Skerritt, Ana Gasteyer, Audra McDonald, Bebe Neuwirth, Bill Irwin, Christine Ebersole, David Hyde Pierce, Hal Holbrook, Harry Belafonte, Harry Connick, Jr., Harry Smith, James Earl Jones, Janis Paige, Jim Dale, Joanna Gleason, Joe Pesci, John Tartaglia, Jonathan Pryce, Josh Lucas, Julianna Margulies, Julie Andrews, Kristen Bell, Lauren Ambrose, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Louise Parker, Michael McKean, Neil Patrick Harris, Norbert Leo Butz, Oliver Platt, Patricia Neal, Paul Rudd, Paul Shaffer, Rosie Perez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sara Ramirez, Stanley Tucci, T.R. Knight and Victoria Clark.

The 2006 Tony Awards should be an exciting event, with several races too close to call. Chief among them is the battle for the coveted Best Musical prize, which seems to be a dead heat between a bunch of Jersey Boys and a somewhat Drowsy Chaperone.

Although the CBS broadcast does not commence until 8 PM, the official Tony Awards website — located at www.TonyAwards.com — will offer exclusive live video of the first ten awards beginning at 7:15 PM. Tony Award winners Victoria Clark and Norbert Leo Butz will present these ten awards, which include Best Orchestrations, Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Scenic Design of a Play and Best Scenic Design of a Musical as well as the Regional Theatre Tony Award (Intiman Theatre of Seattle, Washington), the Lifetime Achievement Award (Harold Prince, who will not be present at the ceremony; he's currently directing the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera) and the Special Tony Award (Sarah Jones for Bridge & Tunnel).

As for entertainment, the CBS telecast will include performances from the four nominated Best Musicals — The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Jersey Boys and The Wedding Singer — as well as the three nominated Best Revivals of a Musical: The Pajama Game, Sweeney Todd and The Threepenny Opera. The broadcast will also feature a tribute to legendary director-producer Hal Prince, and it is also expected that the ceremony will feature a 60th anniversary salute to the Tonys.

The Color Purple, based on both the Alice Walker novel and the acclaimed film of the same name, will perform a medley of "Hell No!" (featuring Tony nominee Felicia P. Fields) and the title tune (led by Tony nominee LaChanze). The Drowsy Chaperone, the new musical that pays homage to vintage musicals and musical theatre lovers, will perform "Show Off," the show-stopping number led by current Tony nominee Sutton Foster. Jersey Boys, which presents the story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, will offer a medley of two of the musical's hit songs, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and "Who Loves You." The former is a solo for Tony nominee John Lloyd Young, and the latter will include Young as well as Tony nominee Christian Hoff, J. Robert Spencer and Daniel Reichard. And, The Wedding Singer, which is based on the hit Adam Sandler film of the same name, will perform "It's Your Wedding Day," featuring current Tony nominee Stephen Lynch. The Pajama Game, which marks the Broadway performance debut of Harry Connick, Jr., will begin its segment with "There Once Was a Man," the rousing duet between Tony nominees Connick and Kelli O'Hara. That Richard Adler-Jerry Ross tune will lead into "Hernando's Hideaway," which features the musical's other Tony-nominated actor, Megan Lawrence. The revival of Sweeney Todd, which boasts a cast of actors who double as the show's musicians, will offer a montage of several Stephen Sondheim tunes, including portions of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" (featuring Tony nominee Manoel Felciano), "The Worst Pies in London" (featuring Tony nominee Patti LuPone) and "My Friends" (featuring Tony nominee Michael Cerveris). And, The Threepenny Opera, the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of the classic Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht musical, will offer "The Ballad of the Pimp," which features a tango between two members of its starry cast, Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper.

The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Award is bestowed annually for distinguished achievement in the theatre. The complete list of this year's nominees follows:

Best Play
The History Boys
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Rabbit Hole
Shining City

Best Musical
The Color Purple
The Drowsy Chaperone
Jersey Boys
The Wedding Singer

Best Revival of a Play
Awake and Sing!
The Constant Wife
Edward Albee's Seascape
Faith Healer

Best Revival of a Musical
The Pajama Game
Sweeney Todd
The Threepenny Opera

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Ralph Fiennes, Faith Healer
Richard Griffiths, The History Boys
Zeljko Ivanek, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Oliver Platt, Shining City
David Wilmot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Kate Burton, The Constant Wife
Judy Kaye, Souvenir
Lisa Kron, Well
Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole
Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd
Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game
Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer
Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone
John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone
La Chanze, The Color Purple
Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game
Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Samuel Barnett, The History Boys
Domhnall Gleeson, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Ian McDiarmid, Faith Healer
Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing!
Pablo Schreiber, Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Tyne Daly, Rabbit Hole
Frances de la Tour, History Boys
Jayne Houdyshell, Well
Alison Pill, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Zoë Wanamaker, Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Danny Burstein, The Drowsy Chaperone
Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera
Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple
Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd
Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Carolee Carmello, Lestat
Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple
Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game
Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple

Best Direction of a Play
Nicholas Hytner, History Boys
Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Bartlett Sher, Awake and Sing!
Daniel Sullivan, Rabbit Hole

Best Direction of a Musical
John Doyle, Sweeney Todd
Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys
Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, The Wedding Singer
Donald Byrd, The Color Purple
Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game
Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Orchestrations
Larry Blank, The Drowsy Chaperone
Dick Lieb and Danny Troob, The Pajama Game
Steve Orich, Jersey Boys
Sarah Travis, Sweeney Todd

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Color Purple
Music & Lyrics: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray

The Drowsy Chaperone
Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison

The Wedding Singer
Music: Matthew Sklar; Lyrics: Chad Beguelin

The Woman in White
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: David Zippel

Best Book of a Musical
Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy, The Wedding Singer
Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Jersey Boys
Bob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone
Marsha Norman, The Color Purple

Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, Rabbit Hole
Bob Crowley, The History Boys
Santo Loquasto, Three Days of Rain
Michael Yeargan, Awake and Sing!

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
John Lee Beatty, The Color Purple
David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone
Derek McLane, The Pajama Game
Klara Zieglerova, Jersey Boys

Best Costume Design of a Play
Michael Krass, The Constant Wife
Santo Loquasto, A Touch of the Poet
Catherine Zuber, Awake and Sing!
Catherine Zuber, Seascape

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone
Susan Hilferty, Lestat
Martin Pakledinaz, The Pajama Game
Paul Tazewell, The Color Purple

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Christopher Akerlind, Awake and Sing!
Paul Gallo, Three Days of Rain
Mark Henderson, Faith Healer
Mark Henderson, The History Boys

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington and Brian Monahan, The Drowsy Chaperone
Howell Binkley, Jersey Boys
Natasha Katz, Tarzan
Brian MacDevitt, The Color Purple

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Intiman Theatre in Seattle, WA

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Harold Prince

Special Tony Award
Sarah Jones

Total Nominations by Production:
The Drowsy Chaperone - 13
The Color Purple - 11
The Pajama Game - 9
Awake and Sing! - 8
Jersey Boys - 8
The History Boys - 7
Sweeney Todd - 6
Rabbit Hole - 5
The Lieutenant of Inishmore - 5
The Wedding Singer - 5
The Constant Wife - 4
Faith Healer - 4
Edward Albee’s Seascape - 2
Lestat - 2
Shining City - 2
Three Days of Rain - 2
The Threepenny Opera - 2
Well - 2
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - 1
Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life - 1
Souvenir - 1
Tarzan - 1
A Touch of the Poet - 1
The Woman in White - 1

For more information visit www.tonyawards.com.